When CPS does finally become a paid-for network (an event I am in no hurry for), I hope it includes a time-based charging element, along with clear signage that teaches the uninitiated:* cost (including time based element)* explanation that most EV rapid charging speeds taper off gradually past about 50% and most EV drivers find there is little point in rapid charging beyond 80% of battery capacity* invitation for folk who really want to reach 100% to use the rapid til they reach about 80% only then go and use the adjacent 7-22kw post as this will be cheaper and courteous to other drivers.

Even while the network remains free to use, the latter two bullet points would be welcome signage at sites where 7-22kw posts are available alongside rapids.

Is hard to see the time based thing working. If you get charged at a higher rate after say 1hr of charging on a Rapid, is that really going to bother say many Tesla drivers? It may also just mean some drivers work the system by ending the charge then restarting it after around 1hr.

These adjacent 7-22kW posts you speak of don't exist at the majority of Rapid's either from what I can see, but I don't hang out in the likes of Dundee.

Any Rapid near facilities like restaurants, shops etc is always at higher risk of being tied up for hours and hours.

Why can't most of Scotland's rapid's have a 45 or 60 min cut off for all AC/DC/CCS connections? And why can't this happen now? CPS can take this forward to each Council and implement with ease. They just need a good prod and a nudge to do so.

PS not in a hurry to see fee charging myself either. I used to always think all these P&R location Rapid's were a bit of an odd location choice, but given the way things have evolved in the last year or two, I now prefer these and they make more sense to me. They are the least likeliest to be hogged/tied up/blocked, and they are the ones that tend to have adjacent T2 charging.

[quote="noahs-dad"]A rex i3 Is clearly not comparable with an Outlander, or those even more ridiculous 3kW "rapid" charge rate GTE golfs. It is also clearly not a pure BEV. Whatever it is though is a car with a good elec range, but also a car that takes up to 1hr 30mins to charge (perhaps more in Winter) on CCS where the rapid has no enforced cut off.

If you see an i3 taking an hour and a half to charge then either they are well past 90%, the charger is broken or they parked up nearby for some time before charging and the battery is very cold. Typically an i3 with a 94Ah battery will charge at about 38kW from 0% to about 48kW at around 80% building up the charge rate as the battery voltage rises and will then start to drop off around 80 to 85% SOC. The older i3 with a smaller battery while charging at a slower rate should not take any longer to get past 80% SOC

I have an i3 REX and precondition the car at home before setting off on a journey and normally start to charge between 20% and 50% SOC and then stop around 80-85% SOC. The reason for starting at higher SOCs is to make sure that I don't risk getting to a charger with not enough reserve to get to the next one. I try to drive as if it was a BEV. Having said that in 20 months of ownership I have had to use the REX 7 times due to failed chargers, 5 of them in Scotland. If the car is preconditioned, then driven and charged as soon as possible, then charging speed is not reduced in winter in my experience.

I saw a 2016 i3 plate on the ABB Rapid at Haddington yesterday evening at about 5pm, it had clocked up 1hr 22 mins time of charge. Perfectly normal and familiar i3 charge, I get about and regularly use a lot of chargers mainly all around all the Lothians, North England A1, and The Borders, and around Edinburgh. This has been a normal observation for me with i3's over the last 18 months or so, or however long it is since they started appearing in numbers.

I am not clued up enough to tell if an i3 is a REX or pure BEV, just by looking at, no idea how you do that to be honest. I think the i3 elec range as said previously is very good, and would never bracked it along with the likes of an Outlander as some do. But it is hard to deny they frequently and regularly tie up rapid chargers for 90 mins, which I don't think is positive in anyway.

But as noted in other threads, if I really need a charge, I wont hesitate to stop an i3 charge when it has been charging for over a hour and is slow charging. Usually with newer elec cars, there is some control within car settings of cut offs at whatever % of charge on a Rapid. My 2012 Ion cuts of at 82% on most occassions, I don't have any control or settings for the cut offs. The 24kW a Leaf I do have settings options but don't use them, and cut of is entirely variable, and depends on all sorts of car battery state and charger, and temperature factors.

Cutting to the chase (at last), lets just have a 45m, or 1hr auto cut off, of all Rapid charge connnections in Scotland. You either restart your charge if required or desired after 45m, or someone else who is waiting gets to jump on, without the polava of waiting ages, and often resorting to having to emergency stop EV's that are well over +1hr and charging at T2 rates in the 90%s very slowly on a Rapid.